Last Day in Francistown

Hello! First, I promise to bug Andy to blog again. He's swamped with the 21 original students, madly rushing to complete their films. You'll hear more from him in South Africa, I'm sure.

So, big lesson learned this morning in Botswana. Andy and I were waiting for the shuttlebus to take us to the airport to pick up our two rental cars (we're driving to Gabarone tomorrow morning with Kelly and Mitch). We saw some guys lighting smoke fires in a tree, so what did we do? We, of course, walked over to check it out! They were smoking out a hornet's nest. I IMMEDIATELY got stung on the tip of my nose and then high-tailed it out of there. If it stings or bites, it will find me. Andy was right next to me and they just attacked me. I put some sting-ease on it and some ice. Perfect. Tomorrow night we have a big press junket with the Vice President of Botswana and the Minister of Education, and I'm going to look like Carl Malden. Oh well.

Today is the last day. The kids have made some extraodinary PSAs. Mitch worked on helping them create original music. Some of the films about their dreams are very powerful. Again, we'll post a couple from South Africa.

Kelly and Charles filmed the four orphans the other day. It was tough going because they just don't think about having dreams for the future. They focus on existing. We had them record in Setswana and will run sub-titles. I had Malabo (who wants to be a singer) record a song. It is very haunting and quite beautiful. She will add that to her film today as a soundtrack. We have parents and teachers coming today to watch the films. It will be sad to leave.

I gave the orphans cameras to take home. I'm trying to upload to Shutterfly right now (check back for a new link to the right), but the Internet is REALLY slow. I can't wait for you to see their pictures. These are kids who had never used cameras just four days ago, and they took some amazing shots. They have been swimming every day, knowing that it will be the last time for a very long time.

We have to get to FedEx today to ship computers to Ghana for our program that will happen in three weeks. It is quite a task to organize all of this. Then, we'll pack up tonight, work on the kids' films, and head to Gabarone tomorrow morning early. Oh, we went to get the two cars, as you know, this morning. Mitch and Kelly will drive one, and Andy and I in the other. Annelize and Charles will drive the Bishop's car and stop to film along the way. I had JUST mastered the art of driving on the left, when we were hit with a new surprise this morning. Our cars are manual. So the stick shift is on the left and the blinker is on the right. There are SO many things to think about at the same time. On the way back, Andy and both kept hitting the windshield wipers because they are on the left. We also kept shifting from third to first, something you don't want to ever do, I promise you. It was actually great fun, however, and I felt a great sense of accomplishment when we got back. Tomorrow will be fun.

We spend the night in Gabarone tomorrow, then fly to Joburg to meet Sandra, Jaime, and Gabriel (our videographer). You'll have a new cast of characters to meet next week.

Finally, Annelize summed up our time here very nicely last night. I'll admit that it was a little shocking to see caucasion students mixed in with our African students on the first day. However, it is so great to be somewhere where the races mix so well. Annelize recounted a story about a friend who went to boarding school in Switzerland. In her thirties now, she still keeps in contacts with her friends from school. They are African, Indian, Asian, American, etc. She feels lucky to have been exposed to so many cultures and now "carries them all on my shoulders every day, reminding me of the many ideas in the world and admonishing me to be open and free." Love that.

More from Andy from South Africa. I SWEAR!

E and A